Top Rated Documentary Movies on Kanopy - Page 308

The Last to Know

1981

The Last to Know

1981
Via New Day Films: "Nearly one half of the estimated ten million alcoholics in the country are women, yet their special problems are totally ignored. Concealed by families, protected by friends and physicians, these women are kept invisible. They themselves are often The Last to Know. This extraordinary film speaks directly to these women by sensitively focusing on four intimate stories and shows how the medical community, the media and the values of society at large actually perpetuate alcoholism and prescription drug abuse in women."
Dear Governor Cuomo

2012

Dear Governor Cuomo

2012
'Dear Governor Cuomo' is a concert protest film aimed at influencing New York state's decision to ban hydraulic fracturing - fracking - or adopt it. Featuring local activists including Mark Ruffalo, 'Melissa Leo' , 'Natalie Merchant' , Pete Seeger, Citizen Cope and scientists like Sandra Steingraber, the film - a blend of 'The Last Waltz' and 'An Inconvenient Truth' lays out the science and facts behind the decision and encourages the governor to join the anti-fracking majority in his state. Though focused on the issue in New York, the education, and incredible music, are relevant in the 34 states that already allow fracking.
Bajarí

2013

Bajarí

2013
Flamenco is one of the world's few art forms that is believed to be passed down exclusively through bloodlines. For Barcelona's Gypsy community, it cannot be learned at a school or on paper. It is lived within the home, created at the bar and perfected on the street corner. Bajari goes to all those places with the dancer Karime Amaya-who is working with some of the most talented up-and-coming musicians and dancers to create an innovative show-and little 5-year old Juanito Manzano who takes his first steps to dance in it and earn his white flamenco boots. Their experiences form a journey of discovery of this living tradition and create an intimate portrait of how flamenco's legacy is kept alive within Barcelona's tight-knit Gypsy community.
Brazil: An Inconvenient History

2000

Brazil: An Inconvenient History

2000
At first glance Brazil appears to be an alluring playground of exciting carnivals, sultry samba, divine football and a vibrantly diverse people. But behind this dazzling facade lies a disturbing story of history’s largest-ever slave population. Astonishingly Brazil, a Portuguese colony, received ten-times more African slaves than the numbers transported to North America. This programme looks at those estimated 4 million people with whose blood, sweat and tears Brazil was built. Without them none of Brazil’s present-day success and appeal would exist. Using contemporary testimonies, this film takes a hard look at Brazil s dark history through the eyes of those slaves. They lived in squalid conditions on remote plantations or in teeming cities harboring fatal diseases. Most Africans survived only seven years in this ‘New World’.
Bach in Auschwitz

1999

Bach in Auschwitz

1999
A documentary about an orchestra comprised of female prisoners in Auschwitz.
The United States of Autism

2013

The United States of Autism

2013
Follow one man's 11,000 mile, 40 day journey across the American landscape to visit twenty families and individuals affected by autism while searching for answers for his own son. With interviews from around the nation that include the widest spectrum of backgrounds - each conducted in the participants' original language - the film weaves a broad and compelling tapestry across the spectrum of American life in all its faiths, disparities, colors, and cultures. What he learns along the way will change not only his life, but the lives of those he meets, forever. It's a story about the best days that still lie ahead for our nation, the families, and the people who give America its heart.
Circle the Wagen

2013

Circle the Wagen

2013
Circle The Wagen is a feature-length buddy/road-trip/docu-dramedy that follows Dave, an idealistic adventurer and automotive ne'er-do-well, and his convivial co-pilot Charlie on their journey down Route 66 in a baby blue 1972 VW bus. Through mishaps and murals, gasoline baths and breakdowns the two discover a teeming underground of vintage VW diehards willing to help save "The Croc" from the scrap heap and rally her beleaguered owner on to California.
White Wash

2011

White Wash

2011
Documentary that exploring the complexity of race in America through the struggle and triumph of black surfers. This controversial and probing film looks deep into America's painful and pervasive legacy of slavery and exclusion.
Soul in the Sea

2013

Soul in the Sea

2013
The true story of one woman's quest to befriend and protect and extroverted wild dolphin, Moko. Filmed in the 6 months leading up to Moko's death, Soul in the Sea follows a journey of discovery, devastating loss, and resolution. It's a love story with a difference; breaking through the invisible wall between people and animals, celebrating the incredible experience of friendship with a lone wild dolphin, and questioning whether we are truly aware of these souls in the sea. The greatest friendships can come out of the blue...
Griefwalker

2008

Griefwalker

2008
Documentary about Harvard-trained theologian Stephen Jenkinson, a grief counselor who teaches that death empowers us to live and that we must not only accept death but embrace it.
The Forest for the Trees

2005

The Forest for the Trees

2005
Story of the fight to clear activist Judi Bari's name after her car was bombed and she was arrested as a terrorist by the Oakland police. Convinced the FBI conspired to discredit her and her organization, Judi decided to sue.
Master Qi and the Monkey King

2010

Master Qi and the Monkey King

2010
Master Qi and the Monkey King explores the life and work of the preeminent master of Chinese Opera living in the United States. Qi Shu Fang was a household name in China due to her feature role in one of the Cultural Revolution Opera films, and traveled the world to show off her mastery of the art form. The film explores the reasons why Ms. Qi, her husband and a whole troupe of Chinese Opera performers have moved to the United States to transplant their art form to a foreign culture.
When the Drum Is Beating

2011

When the Drum Is Beating

2011
The 20-member band Septentrional has been making music for 62 years as Haiti's most celebrated big band. This inspirational doc charts the history of Haiti from its independence from French colonialism to 2010's devastating earthquake-all set to the vibrant music of Septentrional and punctuated with personal memories.
Sentenced Home

2006

Sentenced Home

2006
This film is a gripping documentary exploration that humanizes the United States' tragically flawed immigration policy. The film follows the story of 3 Cambodian-American immigrants living in Seattle (who came as children in the early 80s, when a multitude of Cambodian refugees were given housing in the city's projects) whose teenage rebellions catch up with them in a horrific way.
Karla's Arrival

2011

Karla's Arrival

2011
In Managua, Nicaragua, teenager Sujeylin Aguilar raises her newborn daughter Karla on the same streets she has been calling home for the past eight years. Based in a city park and part of a larger group of youngsters, mother and baby struggle to reach the little one's first birthday. Beautifully told and full of hope, Karla's Arrival offers an intense personal story about second generation street children.
Survival Prayer

2013

Survival Prayer

2013
'Survival Prayer' explores the power of food, nature and culture. On a remote archipelago in Western Canada, an uncommon abundance of wildlife has sustained the Haida people for countless generations. Here, a last speaker frames a moving portrait of these sacred food systems at risk. Rich with spectacular scenery of the North Pacific coastline and detailed views of wild food gathering and preservation, 'Survival Prayer' is a story of possibility amid deep loss.
Finding Dawn

2006

Finding Dawn

2006
Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh puts a human face on a national tragedy: the murders and disappearances of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women in Canada over the past 30 years. Explores the deep historical, social, and economic factors that contribute to this epidemic of violence against Native women.
A Girl and a Gun

2013

A Girl and a Gun

2013
A Girl and A Gun shows the female perspective on an object whose history is deeply bound to men and masculinity. The classic Hollywood portrayals of pistol packin' mamas, tomboy sharp shooters, sexually twisted femme fatales, and high-heeled, cold-blooded assassins are caricatures. In truth, the typical woman who hangs out at rifle ranges and keeps ammo in her purse is the girl-next-door, the single mom, a hard working sister or aunt. Maybe she's a realist or has learned tough lessons from life; either way, she cares about her personal safety and may even find salvation, comfort or something satisfying in possessing a gun. In a word, she is empowered. Breaking through the caricatures, A Girl and a Gun reveals America's diverse and far-ranging female gun community. It depicts how this community is portrayed by the media and targeted by the gun industry; and shows, through personal stories, how guns change women's lives.
H.O.T. Human Organ Traffic

2009

H.O.T. Human Organ Traffic

2009
Roberto Orazi turns the camera on the lives of some of those involved in the scourge of the global traffic in human organs: lives united by a momentary hope and separated by that abstract yet insurmountable border called the North-South divide. This shocking documentary exposes the players who claim they know nothing of the crimes they commit.
Released

2013

Released

2013
In “Released,” drawn from an Off Broadway play, four New Yorkers recount their criminal pasts and their struggles to stay out of jail.